Mische Family Blog - Firsts

Happy Mardi Gras!

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 18:05:00-0400

Happy Mardi Gras everybody! Thanks to Uncle JJ and Amanda Stella got to try her fist piece of King Cake last night. While she was still making up her mind with this first bite, she ended up eating 3 pieces so I think it's safe to say she liked it!

Back From Australia

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 21:22:00-0400

Last Sunday we got back from our trip to Australia. The trip was a bit short but it was pretty amazing none the less. Our trip began on Saturday Nov 3rd when Stella and I flew from Philly to LA to meet Barbara. (Barbara was in Las Vegas celebrating her 30th with friends, so Stella and I just met her out in Los Angeles.) I was a little worried about making the 5 1/2 hour flight alone with Stella, but I really had nothing to worry about, Stella did great. After a 4 hour layover we were all on to the 14 1/2 hour flight to Sydney. Again Stella was a champ.

Sydney

Due to crossing the International Date Line we got in to Sydney a little before lunch on Monday, basically loosing all of Sunday to our flight. We checked into our hotel which was located in the older part of Sydney know as The Rocks, right near Circular Quay and the famous Sydney Opera House. After taking much needed showers we went to lunch with one of Barbara's co-workers where I, being the less pregnant, more adventurous eater had BBQ Emu pizza. (It was delicious.) Next we took a quick taxi ride over the Sydney Harbor Bridge and saw a bit of North Sydney. After that we decided to take a walk to see some of the sights near out hotel. We ended up walking through Circular Quay and over to the Opera House where we got to see the famous building up close. To end the day we had Chinese food at Circular Quay. Tuesday morning Barbara had to work so Stella and I took a walk over to the Royal Botanic Gardens. Stella got a chance to run around a bit before it started to rain and we made our way back to the hotel. For lunch we met back up with Barbara and went down to Chinatown to eat at a restaurant named BBQ King where we had some excellent BBQ pork. Chinatown was only about a mile or so South of our hotel so we decided to walk back and see some of the sights along the way. We stopped in the QVB a shopping center located in a pretty amazing old building next the Sydney Town Hall. Tuesday also happened to be the day of the Melbourne Cup, a huge horse race in Australia. Even though we were in Sydney, the day of the Melbourne Cup is a national holiday so we saw plenty of people celebrating - lots women in hats and gowns and men in suits gathered at bars and pubs (called hotels in Australia) to watch the race... Barbara had to work some more that afternoon so Stella and I ended up walking around The Rocks. We stopped at a bakery and tried an asparagus and chicken pie, which looked a little like a chicken pot pie, but it was a bit too spicy for Stella and it was raining again so I decided to head back up to the room. Barbara was able to bring us some food from her meeting so we ended up just relaxing for the rest of the evening, which was a good thing because I think we were still getting rid of our jet lag. Barbara had to work all day Wednesday so Stella and I were on our own to explore Sydney. We started the out by taking a taxi out to the Kings Cross section of Sydney to meet some friends of mine for breakfast. After breakfast the line at the taxi rank (designated taxi pick up areas marked by a sign) was pretty long so my friends told me how to get back to Circular Quay (our hotel) by subway. The Sydney subways were kind of different in that they were more like underground, double-decker, commuter trains, but they were clean (as was all of Sydney), inexpensive, and convenient and Stella and I had no problems getting back to our part of town. The subway let us out at Town Hall which happened to be near a Woolworth's, an Australian grocery store chain, so Stella and I stopped off to replenish our supply of Cheerios. This is where I discovered two things. First they don't have pennies in Australia so totals get rounded up to the nearest 5 cents. Second, while close, Cheerios are not the same in Australia as the US and they are not nearly as popular. After the trip to the grocery store we stopped off at the hotel then went to the zoo. Sydney's zoo is across the harbor from the CBD so we got to take a 10 minute ferry ride which was pretty cool. The zoo was very nice, with spectacular views of downtown Sydney, and we ended up spending most of the day there. After the zoo it was back to Circular Quay via ferry. Stella and I then got dinner at a pizza restaurant near our hotel. By Thursday Barbara was done with work and ready see a little more of Sydney. Unfortunately it was pouring rain so we ended up having breakfast in the hotel restaurant and then took a cab over the aquarium. The aquarium was nice, but we had to get ready to fly to Melbourne that afternoon so we didn't spend a whole lot of time there. By the time we left the aquarium the rain had let up so we walked back to the hotel and got ready to go.

Melbourne

We got into Melbourne on Thursday afternoon. Again our hotel was in a great location just half a block outside of the CBD, right near the Queen Victoria Market. On the recommendation of some nurses Barbara had met from Melbourne we walked over to Lygon Street to get some Italian food for dinner. There had to be close to 30 Italian restaurants on this street but we picked one that Barbara had read about in one of our books and it turned out to be pretty good. We then walked back to the hotel and called it a night. On Friday we had booked a day tour to the Great Ocean Road. We saw some amazing scenery including some beautiful beaches and pretty impressive rock formations. We stopped in the coastal town of Appollo Bay for lunch where I tried the fish and chips which are actually made from shark. It was pretty good but I think I prefer the more traditional Cod. The tour took up the entire day but was well worth it. On Saturday we decided to explore Melbourne a little. To start the day we had breakfast a little cafe before going to the Queen Victoria Market. The market was similar to the French Market in New Orleans only it was about 10 times bigger. We walked around for a few minutes, bought Stella some blueberries, then decided to hop on the free city circle tram to see some of the sights. Well, it turned out the tram was going to be out of service for about an hour so we decided to get on the free tourist shuttle instead. (I have to say, between the free tourist shuttle and the free city circle tram Melbourne was a great city to get around in as a tourist.) We took the bus over to the Royal Botanic Gardens where there were having some sort of art fair. Stella got a chance to run around the children's garden and ended up with her first scrapped knee! She was having so much fun though she didn't even notice. We walked around the gardens for a few more minutes then hopped back on the bus to Federation Square and Flinders Street Station. After lunch at a cafe in Fed Square we decided to take a river cruise on the Yarra river, which flows through Melbourne. After the cruise we took the city circle tram (which was now running again) back to our hotel. It was now just about dinner time so we decided to walk to the Greek precinct for dinner. There I had some of the best lamb I think I have ever had in a lamb kabob. Sunday morning we had pancakes at a restaurant near our hotel and then were off to the airport. Apparently the WWE Raw (professional wrestling) had an event in Melbourne that week and all the wrestlers were on our flight back to the US. I guess I have never seen any of those guys in person, but they are huge. We probably saw about 10 of them and a few of them, including Triple H and Umaga stopped to talk to Stella, saying how cute she was. It was pretty funny... So that was our trip. Stella is officially a world traveller! You can see some pictures here.

Stella turns 1

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 21:43:00-0400

It's hard to believe that Stella is already a year old. She's accomplished a lot in this first year. Her birthday party was a big hit. She was in good spirits all day long and seemed to be having lots of fun. We had a party at Angelinos with about 30 people, loads of food, and yummy cake from Brooklyn (courtesy of our cousin Joanne). Grandma and Grandpa flew in from New Orleans and she got enough presents to stock a toy store. We took lots of pictures to remember the day.

It's been a while

Mon, 08 Oct 2007 21:32:00-0400

Not much has happened over the last few months, so we decided not to post for a while. I kid of course. I have about zero energy with pregnancy #2 and it is affecting my ability to stay awake once Stella goes to sleep, which is when I typically find the time to post. In any case, we owe everyone a lot of updating. For now, here is a fun new video of Stella's newest talent. Click the download button to view.

Happy Father's Day!

Sun, 17 Jun 2007 09:58:00-0400

Nathan has really taken to the role of dad. He's amazing with Stella and we're both very lucky to have him. We celebrated Father's Day a bit early this year. We all went up to NY yesterday to see the Yankees beat the Mets. It was yet another big day for Stella. She had her very first bagel from one of the best bagel shops in NY. Then she went to her first baseball game. She wasn't sure about all of the loud people. She did manage to look funny at the Mets fan sitting next to us when he clapped and no one else did. And of course she made friends with everyone around her and everyone who walked by. She even managed to take a couple of short naps. We finished off the day with dinner at Sam's and a piece of good Italian bread. All in all it was a good day. We're off to spend the day swimming at Aunt Annemarie's. Happy day to all the other dads in our life! Here are a few pictures of our day to enjoy.

Happy Mother's Day

Wed, 16 May 2007 22:48:00-0400

We're a few days late, but didn't want to miss wishing everyone a Happy Mother's Day. Stella made me a present at day care, she's showing signs of being a great artist at a very young age. We went out to dinner with my mom and dad, and Aunt Annemarie and her family. Stella got to order her first meal off of a menu - her very own baked sweet potato! Last week we went to Aunt Carolyn's house for the first time, it was Monica and Natalie's first communion. Last week also marked the first time Nathan went away for an extended period of time since Stella was born. He was gone for 4 whole days, but we made it through okay. Here are some pictures from last week.

Stella Goes To The Zoo

Sun, 08 Apr 2007 08:58:00-0400

Last weekend Stella's Aunt Carol came for a visit with cousins Monica and Natalie. On Saturday we we all made our first trip to the Philadelphia Zoo. The Zoo is just about 5 minutes from our house so we have really been looking forward to bringing Stella. I'm not sure how much she took in on this visit, but Stella loves being outside so she really seemed to enjoyed it. Click here to see some pictures.

New Orleans

Sat, 24 Mar 2007 12:46:00-0400

Stella took her first big trip in early March when we went down to New Orleans for my friend Greg's wedding. It was a weekend full of firsts, including:

Stella's first trip on an airplane. We were a little worried how she would handle flying, but Stella was a champion air traveler. Much to our relief (and I'm sure our fellow passengers) Stella slept for most of the flight. She only cried for about 2 minutes, and that was just to let us know she was hungry.

Stella's first time to New Orleans. Being her first trip to New Orleans Stella had a lot to see. We saw my parent's new condo, Mary's True Value and the French Quarter, and of course she was introduced to crawfish in Bucktown.

Stella's first sleep over. Greg's wedding was on a Friday night and my parents were kind enough to babysit for Barbara and I while we went to the wedding. We knew the wedding would be a late affair so we decided to just let Stella sleep at Grandma and Grandpa's house. I guess she did OK because both she and my parents seemed pretty happy when we went to pick her up the next morning.

Check back soon for more photo's and maybe even another video.

Stella Eats!

Fri, 16 Mar 2007 17:04:00-0400

As Barbara mentioned, last week was a big week for Stella. Here is a video of our first attempt at feeding Stella solid food, rice cereal. To view just click on the "Download" link at the bottom of this post.

Happy Valentine's Day

Wed, 14 Feb 2007 21:35:00-0400

Today was not only Stella's first Valentine's Day, it was also her first snow day. The weather here in Philadelphia was pretty miserable. I stayed here and worked from home and we made a nice dinner for Nathan, our Valentine. Here are a few things I love about Stella:

how she smiles from ear to ear when you go to pick her up in the morning
the strange noises she makes in her sleep
the funny face she makes when she's pooping
while we're on poop...how she farts every time she sneezes
she loves my singing and has recently taken to imitating me
how she knows it's bathtime just because we start to take her socks off
her legs never stop kicking
the googly eyes she gives Nathan (you can tell they are going to be trouble in a few years)
how she loves watching Nathan play guitar
she's physically stronger than both of us combined

Well, that's obviously not everything, but just a few highlights. We took some pictures today, enjoy!

C.H.O.P.

Thu, 01 Feb 2007 22:31:00-0400

I was hoping to post a story about how Stella was a busy socialite this past weekend. She was party-hopping all over the east coast. But, once again, she got sent home from day care with a fever and all of my plans changed... On Monday afternoon I was having lunch with my friend Adrienne at Reading Terminal Market when my cell phone rang. It was Karen from day care. Stella was burning up and doing a lot of crying and Karen thought I needed to come pick her up. I was only a few blocks away, but by the time I got there she looked miserable. The poor baby was so lethargic and it seemed like she was on fire. Her fever was 102, so I put Stella in the car and called the doctor. We headed over in the direction of the pedicatrician's office and on the way I noticed that she was breathing very loudly and very fast. We got to the doctor's office and as soon as the office manager looked at her she said we needed to be seen right away. We were quickly taken back and a nurse took Stella's temperature. I've never seen the numbers go up so fast - they finally stopped at 104.3. Another nurse came in to assess her breathing situation. It wasn't good news. She was breathing at more than 80 breaths per minute and she was wheezing. They immediately brought in a nebulizer and gave her an albuterol treatment and some tylenol. Three treatments and two hours later her fever had gone down to about 102, but her breathing wouldn't slow down and it looked as though she was gasping for air. At this point I started to really freak out. Our next stop was the Emergency Room. The pediatrician called ahead to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia to let them know we were on our way. I picked up Nathan and we drove over to the CHOP ER. What an amazing place. It has got to be one of the most technically advanced hospitals in the world. I felt at once comforted to know this was in our back yard, and terribly depressed that such a large facility was full of sick little kids. We fully expected to be speding the whole night in the ER. We were given a pager that would vibrate when we were called into a room, and it went off right away. The triage nurse took a listen to her and got us back in a room in less than 15 minutes. Again, I wasn't sure if I should be happy or scared. I didn't really want to be the mom with the baby who needed everyone's immediate attention. Stella was really a champ the whole time we were there. She had chest x-rays and didn't cry for even a second. She got another nebulizer treatment and again was perfectly calm. Having her ears checked was a different story, as was the catheterization, but all in all, she really did a great job. Turns out she has RSV which caused bronchiolitis. Her breathing slowed down to a normal rate and we were sent home with an albuterol inhaler with a tiny little mask that fits over her nose and mouth. After a few more doses of tylenol and the inhaler, Stella was doing a lot better. On Tuesday she stayed home with me and on Wednesday (my first day of work at the new job) she stayed home with Nathan. After a rough night last night (she was up literally every hour), we made the decision to send her to day care today and see how she did. Apparently, they said you would never know anything was wrong with her, she was in good spirits all day. We're hoping she feels good enough to sleep through the night tonight. If you're keeping track, Stella is now 4 months old. She weighs 15 lbs 5 oz and is 25 3/4 inches long. We didn't get to take too many pictures this week, here are some.

Croup

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 10:26:00-0400

The musical night wasn't the only thing that made last week eventful. Stella got sent home from daycare AGAIN! I went to pick her up on Wednesday afternoon and she sounded terrible, like she had been smoking a pack a day for 20 years. Her cry was weak and when she fell asleep in the car it sounded like she was wheezing. I called both sisters to get their opinions (talk about parenting by concensus...) who agreed that I needed to call the doctor in the morning. Because of her last cold, the vaporizer was still in her room, and Nathan and I raised her crib mattress so she would sleep on an incline. There was only one other small problem... I was supposed to be in the NY office on Thursday. It was especially important that I be there because I accepted a job offer with a company here in Philadelphia and I needed to resign. I knew, however, that if I went into NY, day care would call up mid-day and say that I needed to pick her up. So, I called my boss at home on Wednesday night and resigned and worked from home on Thursday. Stella slept like a champ that night, she didn't wake up until 7:30 the next morning. We called the doctor first thing and they said if she was eating and sleeping, and had a few wet diapers, then everything was okay. They even suggested that I take her to day care if she seemed to be in good spirits. She did, so we went. At 2:00 day care called and said she wasn't sleeping at all and she hadn't eaten very much all day. Her breathing seemed to be getting worse too. Good thing I stayed home! We went to the doctor and Stella was diagnosed with her first case of croup, and she had her first fever of 102 degrees. We were sent home with instructions to give her tylenol every 4 hours and to sit in a steamy bathroom for 15 minutes several times a day. The cough from croup is just awful. The poor baby was so miserable. She couldn't eat well because of the cough, couldn't sleep well because of the fever, and looked so unhappy. She had 2 bad days but started to feel and sound better pretty quickly. The croup is mostly gone at this point. Now she is left with a lingering cold and a less painful sounding cough. She's still uncomfortable enough to be waking up once a night again. We got too used to her sleeping through the night, and this waking up at 3:30 thing is killing me. I'm hoping that the continuous cold lets us a bit over the next few weeks. We bought our plane tickets to go to New Orleans for Greg and Libby's wedding, and I don't want her to have a cold for her first flight. Today Stella is 17 weeks, but we've yet to take those pictures. For now, here are a few from last week. Enjoy.

No way to start the New Year

Wed, 03 Jan 2007 15:41:00-0400

Stella has been such a good girl lately. She wakes up every morning with a big smile and spends much of the day laughing and playing. We're so lucky that she sleeps as much as she does too (she gets about 10-11 hours a night), it helps us to smile back when she's ready to play at 7 am. On Tuesday Stella went back to day care after staying home with me for the holiday week. At about 2:00 I got a call from Karen saying that I needed to come pick Stella up - she was getting sent home from day care for the first time! Fortunately, it was not permanent. Stella just had a little bit of a leaky eye and we had to make sure that it was nothing contagious (the joys of being in group day care). Everything worked out just fine. I picked her up and we got to see the doctor right away. She got her doctor's note that she was okay to go back to school this morning, but she also has to be on a prescription eye ointment for the next few days. Her tear duct is clogged, and if she gets even the tiniest bit congested, it backs up and makes for a lot of gunk in her eye. The medicine has already made it look a lot better. I don't think I ever posted about day care, probably because it was a bit traumatic. I was scheduled to go back to work on December 11. We had Stella enrolled in a day care center near Nathan's work in the Philadelphia suburbs. Well, when Nathan changed jobs right before I was going back to work, we had to scramble to find a new plan. I went to see a center right across the street from Nathan's new office. They had a spot open and they seemed nice enough, but something was off. When I called to say that I couldn't make up my mind, the director was more concerned with the amount of paperwork than Stella's (and my) happiness. I decided to look a bit further. Next I found someone who lives in the neighborhood and does day care in her home. She is just 3 blocks from our house, and has been taking care of kids since she had her first daughter 15 years ago. She has cared for lots of neighborhood kids and had plenty of references. She was currently caring for 2 special needs children after school only, so Stella would be her only full time baby, which meant lots of personalized attention. Plus, she was pretty inexpensive. I was really starting to get my hopes up. After speaking with her a few times, I went to visit her in her home. This is where my breakdown began. I could barely breathe over the stench of old cat pee. I felt like I could taste it for the rest of the day. I have no idea how these other parents can send their kids to her house all day, but I could not. I was about to become hysterical, since this was December 4 and I had less than a week to find a good situation. Nathan convinced me to call another center that we heard only good things about. We also heard it had a killer wait list, and I was not interested in fighting anyone for a spot in day care (who needs that pressure at 10 weeks old???). I contacted Friends Child Care Center and they said the best thing to do was to come in for a tour and they would see if there were any spots. Stella and I went on Tuesday, December 5. The director came out to the reception area and met me and the first thing she asked was when we needed to start. I laughed and told her Monday. I thought she was going to laugh too, but she didn't. Turns out someone in the infant room had a family member from Europe move to Philadelphia. This family member offered to provide free child care in return for room and board, and so she had an open spot starting on Monday. Even though there was a waiting list for January, we got the spot now. We figured it was fate and said yes right away. We can't be happier with the center. Stella seems very happy there, and the staff is all very caring. On her first day Stella fell fast asleep on Laura's shoulder, the care giver who has been working at Friends with the infants for 29 years, no more than 5 minutes after I dropped her off. The transition into day care has been much easier than we anticipated. When I commute to NY on Mondays and Thursdays, Nathan straps Stella into the Baby Bjorn and they ride the bus to and from work. The other 3 days we all drive in together. I feel much more grown up now that I have to socialize with other mommies.

Santa Claus came to town

Thu, 28 Dec 2006 22:57:00-0400

Do you ever sit around and think about how lucky you are? I've done a lot of that lately. This Christmas was remarkably different than last year. Last year we had just returned from Paris and were back in New Orleans. We decided it was best to have a low key holiday. And even though it was a nice day, we were all still in a state of shock from what had happened just a few months before. Little did we know that I was very newly pregnant and Christmas 2006 would be something to really look forward to. Nathan and I couldn't wait for this Christmas. Stella, now 3 months old, is just gorgeous and very very happy these days. She smiles all the time and giggles even when we're not trying to be funny. Grandma and Grandpa Mische, along with Uncle JJ made their way up from New Orleans to visit us in Philadelphia. On Christmas Eve Stella was Baptised and our entire immediate family came back to our house for the feast of the 7 fishes. The kitchen was busy for a few hours, but the food turned out really great. It was a lot of fun to be with the kids who were anxious for Christmas morning, and Stella did well for being passed around all day from family member to family member. The Baptism was nice too. There was no crying when Fr Mullen poured water over her forehead, probably because Stella enjoys having her hair washed so much. We had waited for so long for this day to get here, it was a bit sad when it was over. We did, however, still have Christmas day to look forward to. Christmas was a much quieter day than the one before. Santa Claus brought all of us very nice presents. Nathan, Stella, Grandma, Grandpa and I went out for dinner in Philadelphia's Chinatown. I've never done anything like that before, but we had a good time and the food was delicious. I don't think we could have anticipated last year how much we would be enjoyoing life this year. It's crazy how life has changed so dramatically. We feel like the luckiest people on the planet. Click here for lots of Christmas weekend photos.

Stella's first Thanksgiving

Tue, 19 Dec 2006 10:35:00-0400

We had planned on going to see the Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade, which is just a few blocks away from our house, but the weather was miserable and rainy, so we decided to skip it this year and wait until next year when Stella will be able to enjoy it a little more. We spent this Thanksgiving at Nana and Poppy's house, with the Finelli and Henderson clans. Of course there was a ton of good food. Monica and Natalie, who hadn't seen Stella since she was 2 weeks old, fell totally in love with her. I think Natalie slept with a picture of Stella under her pillow for the next week and renamed her baby doll Stella too. All in all it was a really good time. We had a lot to be thankful for, life is certainly good to us these days. Here are some pictures of the big day. Oh - this is definitely one of my favorite outfits. We got it at Old Navy and unfortunately it no longer fits her, but she wore it as much as she possible could until it was just too small...